Monday, November 26, 2007

3 AM


I can't really sleep because I am so excited and thinking a lot about this whole journey we have been on. I am thinking about some things that may need some clarifying too. First, on Friday when the Respiratory Therapist plugged David's trachea, he did so for two hours. On Saturday they plugged it for four to five hours. Then on Sunday, it was for six hours. For several of those hours on Sunday, he slept.
Another thought that keeps running through my head is about expectations. This year at my elementary school, we have been starting a "No Excuses University" program with the students. In a nutshell, this means that we set our expectations for each child very high. We are expecting them to not only be "No Child Left Behind" in reading, writing, and mathematics, but we are expecting them to set their goals on going to college, and nothing less. These high expectations that we have for these students has carried over with David and his rehabilitation. Since I expect that he can understand, instead of waiting for him to proove that he can understand, I have pushed the hospital staff to give him a chance to do things that they think he isn't ready for. We can't set our goals too short for anyone. We need to have faith that others can attain higher goals than we would ever have thought possible. When Steve and I went to see David around 9:30 PM tonight, he was "aggitated" and we were all waiting for his medication to calm him down. But as Steve and I played football/catch with him and tried to get him to write, he became less "aggitated". We acknowledged that it must be frustrating that he couldn't talk right now. (His trachea had been "uncapped" at 6:00 PM when he was asleep. When he woke up, he couldn't speak.) While playing catch with a footbal, we explained that he would be able to speak again tomorrow (today now!), reminded him that he could mouth the words, or write them down. He quit squirming so much in the bed. (Of course, the meds had started to take control also.) I'm seeing that his "aggitation" isn't being obnoxious as much as he is frustrated with not being able to communicate and expected to just lie in bed and do nothing. Please pray for the drs. and nurses to all understand how aware he is, and allow him to communicate, and have patience for him to follow directions. For instance, the nurses needed to pull David up higher in the bed, David can now help by grabbing the rail at the top of the bed, and using his feet to push himself up. But this takes time and help from the staff. The nurses aren't aware of this growth, and just start moving him by themselves. How frustrating that must be for David. Also, pray that they speed up the "process" of the trachea and feeding tubes quickly. God may be healing him too fast for our medical community to understand! I know he can swallow and has more control in his mouth than they think. Pray that they would see this quickly also. Pray that they stop drugging him so much during the day. I told the nurses today that David has been sleeping most of the morning away, and going to sleep in the evenings early. I know he needs to heal, but does he need to be drugged to sleep? He gets tired easily by being out of bed, going to PT, using the wheelchair to cruise around, and trying to figure out the computer. I am wondering if he needs ANY extra sleeping meds. We have a family meeting with the staff tomorrow, pray that all these concerns can be expressed and understood by all of us as a team. The team of drs. and nurses are outstanding and pretty open to my agressive therapy approach already! Now they are hearing it from Christa and Laura too. I have seen David a few times get too anxious and have a hard time waiting for the nurses to help transfer him to the wheelchair, or get him situated. He has the wheels of the wheelchair turning before they have him all the way back in the chair or can put a seatbelt on him! I tell you, I can't wait to see what he can do today! Thanks again, Love, Patty